... "Five in the Afternoon" the brilliant new album from Dr Robert and PP Arnold on Curb Records ...
Dr Robert , the The Blow Monkeys main man, has teamed up with soul legend, P P Arnold, for a brand new album of duets.
"Five in the Afternoon" takes its name from the poem "Lament For Ignacio Sanchez Mejias", by Spanish poet laureate Federico Garcia Lorca, and was recorded over a three-week period in the sweltering heat of an Andalusian summer in the Spanish port town of Motril.
This is the first time the two artists have worked together, although neither is new to collaboration: P P Arnold having famously appeared with Ike and Tina Turner, The Small Faces, Nick Drake , Primal Scream and Roger Waters (Pink Floyd) to name but a few; and Robert having previously sung with Curtis Mayfield, Paul Weller, Cheb Khaled and Kym Maselle.
Written and produced by Dr Robert, the album features ten new songs of street soul and folky funkiness - a tonic for troubled times.. A natural fusion of two distinctive voices complementing and urging each other on to create an uplifting (I Saw Something), moving (Stay Now) and even, congregational, sound (Satellite).
The nights were long and magical and days were filled with sunshine … and just a little bit of rain.
"I met Pat at a party up here in the mountains," says Robert. "We jammed a bit and it just clicked and I knew we had to work together. The songs came really quickly - Pat has a timeless voice. Total Soul. And I had to give her "real songs" to sing. She’s ‘A’ list, no bullshit, and it has been a real honour to work with her."
The album has an earthy quality which owes much to the style of the players involved such a bass player Marco Nelson (Young Disciples) and drummer Crispin Taylor (Galliano), and was recorded virtually live with very few overdubs. " With players this good and Pat singing, it would have been a crime to do it any other way. Sometimes the feeling was so good that you forgot you were recording and just drifted away with the music."
Five in the Afternoon will be released September 10, 2007. The album will be supported by a UK tour and a fully co-ordinated TV and press campaign.
Track listing is as follows:
01 Nothing But Love
02 Be My Judge
03 What Am I To Do
04 Careless Blues
05 Five In The Afternoon
06 I Saw Something
07 Stay Now
08 Ghost Of Winter
09 Shape It For Me
10 Satellite
The Blackstaff Sessions, Recorded Live for Ralph McLean BBC NI
Part I
Part II
